November .1, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



507 



Ericas may be had in flower all the year round, and, 

 when thev are well done, few plants are moreattractive. 

 Unfortunately some Ericas are regarded by the craft 

 as " mift'y," requiring an extraordinary amount of skill 

 to grow them well, and certainly some of them are 

 benefited by special treatment ; but I have found 

 that where a common-sense sort of management 

 fails extraordinary measures do not avail much. A 

 frequent cause of failure results from mixing them 

 up with other plants which overshadow and 

 thus rob them of a large share of the light, aud there 

 is not that amount of ventilation so necessary to 

 their well being. The summer-flowering section 

 will now be placed in their winter quarters, and if no 

 Heath-house is found in the garden, it will be found 

 best to arrange them in a group by themselves 

 in the lightest, airiest position, in a cool green- 

 house. In this way they are more under command 

 than if scattered about. Some diversity of opinion 

 exists as to the best season to pot Heaths, but, all 

 things considered, from now onward to early spring 

 is the best time for the operation, as by doing it 

 during that period it makes a better division of 

 labour than when deferred entirely to the spring, 

 when so many other plants require potting; more- 

 over large Ericas with many sticks take a longer time 

 to pot, and train, than other plants. It must not be 

 forgotten also that South African plants have a 

 liking for growing in our autumn, it being their 

 native spring time. Indeed, I have only seen the 

 very best results attained when early autumn pot- 

 ting has been the rule, and this is especially the 

 case with young plants ; and it is surprising how 

 much more is gained by this ordering of the work. 



In potting, use clean pots, with clean crocks well 

 placed, good turfy fibrous peat of firm texture, coarse 

 clean silver sand, and, if procurable, nodules of white 

 sandstone, and all of these should be in readiness 

 before commencing operations. It is important that 

 the compost be nicely moist without being wet, as it 

 may then be rammed firmly into the pots without 

 any risk of its becoming close, and subsequently 

 sodden. See also that the ball of the plant to be 

 potted is moist throughout before turning it out. 

 Remove the crocks from the ball aud any loose soil, 

 but otherwise keep it intact. In placing it in the 

 new pot leave sufficient space for thoroughly 

 watering it, but do not plant deeply — only just low 

 enough to admit of a thin sprinkling of new soil being 

 put on the top of the ball. After potting very little 

 water will usually be required until the spring, but if 

 through any cause it should be required, give a good 

 watering, and give no more until the Boil be again 

 dry. Plants which do not require potting should 

 have all the dead aud decayed points cut out, aud 

 the stakes should be put in order. The foregoing 

 remarks also apply to Aphelexis, Phceuocoma, and 

 Dracophvllum, as well as to all young stock of suft- 

 wooded Ericas. 



Propagation. — The present season offers advan- 

 tages for putting in cuttings of many tropical plants 

 which have just completed their growth, or at all 

 events in which it is less active, and consequently more 

 consolidated, as the cuttings can now be more freely 

 exposed to the light, and without having recourse to 

 much watering, Another point of importance is 

 that cuttings put in now get established by the close 

 of the year, and are ready to push on when the days 

 lengthen, and every plant grower is fully alive 

 to the advantages of an early start. 



At the present season many things may be rooted 

 of the full size required.and this brings them into small 

 pots, and which may therefore be employed for various 

 indoor purposes, without turning them out of their 

 pots ; such are Crotons, Dracamas, Cordylines, Dieffen- 

 bachias, Acalyphas ; any of these may, with ordinary 

 care, be rooted without the loss of a leaf, or their 

 making any fresh growth. In putting such cuttings 

 into the cutting case their leaves should be carefully 

 tied up. Then there is another class of plants which 

 although truly stove perennials, are more satisfactory 

 when grown as young plants, and of these Gyano- 

 phyllum magnificum, Sphairogyne latifolia, Miconia 

 feruginea may be noted as typical examples. These 

 are most admired when grown with straight stems, 

 having fine leaves down to the rim of the pot ; and 

 this is easily done by having small young plants to 

 start with in the spring ; cuttings of these are nut 

 quite so easily rooted as the first-mentioned plants , 

 still, cuttings and small bits of the stems may be 

 rooted, if the buds of the pieces chosen have a leaf 

 attached to them. A moist warm sand-bed is the 

 best place for them, but where this does not exist the 

 same conditions are attained by potting the cuttings 

 in moist sand, and plunging the pots in a bottom- 

 heat of about 80° — 85°. As soon as a few roots are 



formed, pot off, using at first a light rather sandy 

 compost. At all times strive to prevent them 

 from flagging by regulating the damping and airing. 

 Always remove at once any decaying part of the 

 leaves, should anv occur. F. Rust, Pend.lt Com-/. 



The Hardy Frujt Garden. 



Planting. — Autumn is the best time of the year 

 for planting fruit trees, providing the soil is of a dry 

 warm character, but when the soil is clayey, and 

 consequently somewhat cold, planting had belter be 

 deferred until the early spring time. Much waste of 

 time may be spared if the planting contemplated is 

 considerable, by having the digging of holes and the 

 preparation of the soil finished in advance. For 

 immediately surrounding the roots a soil such as 

 that recommended in a former Calendar for use in 

 transplanting trees will be the proper material to 

 employ ; it being a great point to mix some fresh 

 soil, if only about a barrowload, to the staple when 

 planting. The fruit quarters, fruit wall and orchard, 

 should be examined, and all worn-out or worthless 

 trees grubbed out, being careful to leave no pieces of 

 roots in the soil, these being fertile sources of disease 

 in living roots at a later period. The holes should thou 

 be dug out with upright sides to the depth of 2 feet, 

 thoroughly breaking up the subsoil ; the holes should 

 not be less than G feet in diameter. I assume that 

 the drainage of land in gardens and orchards is in 

 proper order, and unless that is so the trees will not 

 make satisfactory growth. If the subsoil be of a wet 

 nature it is in any case advisable to dig it out to 

 the depth of 2.V feet, afterwards to tread the bottom 

 firm, and then "place a layer of brickbats or stones 

 rammed hard, and over this a layer of coal-ashes 

 made firm, and on this again whole turves should be 

 placed. Ordinarily this will suffice to keep the roots 

 from descending into the subsoil. 



The following information may be useful to many, 

 and it also describes the way in which the kitchen 

 garden here is planted. All round the vegetable 

 quarters by the side of the walks are borders 6 feet 

 in width, down the centre of which dwarf pyramids 

 and bushes of Apples, Pears, Plums, and Cherries 

 are planted. These are between 7 and 8 feet apart. 

 The Apples are worked on the Paradise and must 

 of the Pears on the Quince stock, a few only beiug 

 on Pear stocks. With the exception of Cherries all 

 are kept within bounds and from overcrowding by 

 summer-pinching, also by periodical lifting aud root- 

 pruning, which does away with a great amount of 

 winter-pruning. The roots of all are encouraged 

 and kept near to the surface by annual mulchings. 

 The average height of the trees is 7 feet, so that it 

 will be seen that the vegetable quarters are not 

 unduly shaded, and that the gathering of the fruit 

 gives "but little trouble. 



Plum trees grown in this way I find are best lifted 

 every fourth year — this prevents the formation of 

 gross shoots and induces abundance of fibrous roots, 

 and it keeps them in a fruitful condition. The small 

 bush fruits are grown on separate quarters for the 

 convenience of netting them in summer. A. Ward, 

 Stoke Edith Park. 



Fruits Under Glass. 



Pines. — Any of these swelling their fruit should 

 be kept at a temperature of 70 3 on cold windy 

 nights, and 75° on mild ones. In order to do away 

 with the need of hard firing, some kind of covering 

 should be put over the roof-glass in the evening and 

 removed at daybreak ; this will prevent the escape 

 of much of the heat, and the condensation of the 

 internal moisture on the glass. The more fire-hf at 

 that is applied must be met by a corresponding in- 

 creased amount of moisture in the house, in order to 

 maintain a healthy state of the atmosphere. Syring- 

 ing must now be confined to the stems of the 

 plants underneath the foliage, and to damping the 

 surface of the beds and the paths. Water at the 

 root should be afforded the plants when these require 

 it, but it must be cautiously done, as too little will 

 lead to premature ripening and want of juiciness, and 

 the pulp will be stringy; too much water, on the other 

 hand, will produce black discoloration at the core and 

 insipid flavour. Avoid applications of dung-water, 

 but rather have recourse to some concentrated 

 manure. Maintain a steady bottom-heat of 85° to 

 90° ; for fruiters the heat should not decline below 

 the former, neither should it exceed the latter figure 

 mentioned. 



Early Starters. — Queens which have been at rest 

 for some time must be kept quiet during the present 

 month ; a warmth of 55° will be quite high enough 

 for these at night, aud bottom-heat 70° to 75° will 

 be ample. Afford sufficient water] to prevent the 

 tissue of the plants from shrinking ; but, as a rule, 

 little or no water at the root will be necessary 

 during the present month. Admit a little fresh air 

 daily when the thermometer exceeds 60°, but avoid 

 cold draughts. Where the bottom-heat for early 

 starters is dependent on leaves alone it should now 

 be seen to, choosing .Spanish Chestnut, Beech, 

 and Oak leaves for the purpose of refreshing the 

 heat, and let the new material be trodden as firmly 

 as possible to prevent rapid fermentation. 



Successions. — These should now be at rest ; let the 

 bottom-heat be as near 70° as possible, and the 

 atmospheric temperature 55° to G0°, according to 

 the weather. Take advantage of all favourable 

 opportunities of admitting air at the top of the 

 structures, but the ventilators should be closed by 



2 P.M. 



Suckers. — When their pots are filled with roots 

 they require careful management during the next 

 few months ; water the plants whenever they are 

 getting dry, especially where the pots are plunged in 

 a bed made over hot-water pipes : 70° to 75° will be 

 a safe root temperature fur these. In houses with 

 good clear glass, where the plants are in close 

 proximity to it, and where it is found necessary to 

 push forward any of the suckers which were shifted 

 into a size larger pots a little hastening of growth 

 may be done ; but where the houses are heavy and 

 glazed with old-fashioned small panes, and the plants 

 far from the glass, this must not be attempted. 



Strawberries. — Give every attention with water, 

 the pots being now crammed with roots, aud when 

 these are allowed to get dry no after-management 

 will make good the injury done to the plants. Keep 

 the pots free from weeds, and see that the roots are 

 not making their way into the material on which they 

 are standing. I have placed my Strawberries on 

 trellises this season, and thev have well repaid the 

 labour. IV. M. Baillie, Luton Baa. 



The Kitchen Garden. 



Peas. —The warmest and most sheltered position 

 available should be devoted to this sowing, and the 

 soil should have a liberal quantity of manure dug in 

 before sowing the seed. In this district November 

 13 is quite early enough for putting the seed in the 

 ground. Six feet apart is about the right distance at 

 which to have the rows. After filling in with the 

 soil, I place good sifted coal ashes over the rows at 

 once, to the depth of 1 inch, and about 9 inches in 

 width ; this prevents to a certain extent the frost 

 from penetrating the ground, and it seems to hasten 

 the germination of the seed. It may be remarked 

 that it is important that the seed for this sowing 

 should be new and good. The varieties found very 

 suitable are Laxton's Earliest of All, Veitch's Extra 

 Early, Chelsea Gem (dwarf), and Standard. The 

 three first come into use very nearly at the same 

 time, whilst Standard is a good hardy Marrowfat 

 Pea, which is fit for use very soon after the others, 

 and it is a capital cropper. 



Some Broad Beans may also be sown in a similar 

 position and manner. Johnson's Wonderful is a 

 good hardy variety. 



Seakale and Rhubarb. — If these be forced in the 

 open, the roots should now be got in readiness 

 for forcing by clearing off the decayed leaves 

 and placing a small heap of coal-ashes over the 

 crowns to prevent slugs attacking them. The 

 forcing pots should then be put on, and a stake 

 about 4 feet in length should be placed against er.ch 

 root, and all can then be covered overwith fresh leav is, 

 but care should be taken not to get too much heat 

 by making the heaps too large in the first instance, 

 as fresh fallen leaves — and especially Walnut and 

 other soft sappy leaves — heat more violently than 

 would be the case in the winter time. Good Seakale 

 and Rhubarb may be had in this way at Christmas if 

 well attended to; but where a Mushroom-house o.' 

 warm shed is at hand the forcing is easier done. The 

 temperature there may range day and night at from 

 55° to 60°, a moist atmosphere and the complete 

 exclusion of light being the other essentials. I have 

 seen this operation accomplished very successfully in 

 the brick pit usually found at the back of Cucumber- 

 houses the light being shut out. W. H. Divers, Kctton 

 Halt, Stamford. 



